Ear piercing studs are commonly made in one piece, turned from a metal such as stainless steel. The material of the stud is often plated to have a gold appearance. A material frequently used is stainless steel 303S21 which has good mechanical properties, but has 7% nickel content. Even when plated, it has been suggested that this level of nickel is unacceptably high. Studs with a plastics post have been proposed, for example in GB-A-2187930A, but plastics has disadvantages of its own such as the likelihood of surface imperfections in moulding, and the need for the post to be relatively thick to provide adequate strength. A metal post is thus desirable, and it is essential, if the stud is made in more than one part for the parts to be fixed together permanently.
One metal which is particularly suitable for the post, namely titanium, which can be of surgical grade and polished, has a problem that it is impossible to gold plate by conventional electroplating methods, and a gold plated finish for the visible stud head is the most commonly requested finish.